Apparatus for forming impressions on phonograph-record blanks and like articles.



WQC. RUGB. APPARATUS POR FORMING IMPRBSSIONS 0N PHONOGBAPH RECORD BLANKS AND LKB ARTICLES.

ABPLIGATION FILED APILZI, 1909. 901 E. o I

Patented Feb.27,1912.

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IHS MTURHEYS W. C. RUNGB.

AFPARATUS POR mmm@ IMERESSIQNS 0N PEQNOGRAPH RECORD BLANKS AND LIKE ARTICLES.

' vAPPLHMVINHW FILED APR.21, 1909.

E. $18.633. Patented @19.211912 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wr C. RUNGE. APPAEJTT" PGHMHIG MEEBSSIONS 0N PBONOGRAPH RECORD BLANES AND LIKE ARTICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED 11193.21, 1909,

Eatented Feb. 27, 1912.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wsfmnv W. GxRUNGE. APPARATUS POR FORMING IMPRESSIONS 0N PHONOGRAPH REGORD BLANK ND LIKE ANGLES.

'atented Feb. 2'?, 1912.

' APPLICATION FILED APR.21, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET Il.

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WALTER C. RUNGE, 0F CAMERE, NEW JERSEY, SSGNGR TU RYAL FHGNE ND EHONOGRAM COMPANY, GF BGSTQN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPQRATN F nieren-aros :son semaine nurn'sssrous 0N ri-onoe'nsrn-nnoonn :arianne aun- Lmil ARTICLES.

application mea. apre. 2i, ieee.

To all whom t may concern.'

- Be it known that l. WALTER Runen a 'citizen of the United States, and a resident of. the eity of Camden, county et Camden, and State of New Jersey, have invented eertain new and useful improvements in Appa ratustvor Forming `impressions on Phono-A graph-Reeord Blanks and Like rrtieles, oi; which the following is a specification.

My invention does not relate to the making oi vthe blanks Jfor phonograph records and like articles, but to the forming or iinpressing upon or into the saine, of preise tions or recesses for the tune or other niatter 'which is to be reproduced from the record.

l. Will describe an apparatus used in carry- `ing out my invention, and then enumerate the novel features in elainis.

inthe aeeonipanying drawings: Figurel. is a vertical elevation partly in section, of an apparatus suitable `tor use in'earrying out my invention. li 2 is a top View of a tank and agpurtenanees comprised in the apparatus. Fig. 23 is an inverted or bottoni view of the tank and appurtenances.. ig. #i is a side View of a segment of an expander oomprised in the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of this expander. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of certain parte of modified forni. Fig. 7 is side View of an. apparatus for ejeeting the expanders. Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal seotionof parte shown also in Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a central transverse section of these parts. Fig. l0 is a longitudinal section of parts oi. an eX- pander. Figs. 1l, l2 and 13 are views illustrating means wherebyr the expanehrrV is caused to exert pressure first at its middle portion and from there progressively toward the ends; Fig. 11 showing a longitudinal section of the arts, on a larger scale than the previous views, and with the mandrel G out of engagement with thestaves of the expander, which latter are shown as curved or bowed; Fig. l2 is a detailY elevation of one of these expander staves showing in ull lines the normal orbowed condition of said st ave and showing in dotted lines the straightened out condition of such stave5 produced by the action of the mandrel; and Fig. i3 is a fragmentary top View of one of Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 491,223.

extent that eaeh may aot upon the part.

which it is to operate to any d -gree that may Abe important, Without requiring any other to operate to the same degree.

C designates a tank, here shown as of polygonal form, and provided with an inlet a and an outlet c2. Extending between its top and bottom Walls are tubes c3 which at their lower ends are shown as fitting into rabbets or recesses c formed in the bottoni wall of the tank, with an interposed packing of any suitable materiali-0 make a tight oint, and which at the upper end are shown as secured within openings c formed inthe top Wall of the tank by means of caps c7 provided externally with screw threads engaging with the top wall of the tank and having inwardly turned flanges overlapping the upper ends of the tubes, a suitable paokf ing being preferably used between these parts to prevent leakage. The caps and tubes may beintegral. It will be seen from this description that a fluid hot or eold, may by means of the inlet and outlet el and c2, be circulated through the tank around its various 'tubes c3.

The tubes c are either made to constitute matrices or else are provided Wit-h matrices. ln the present instance. they constitute Inatrices by themselves; being formed upon their inner surfaces so as to constitute negatives of records which are to be impressed upon phonograph cylinders or like articles. i

lVithin the tubes c lare tubular expanders.

D more particularly shown in Figs. l and 5, and these are so constructed as to he eXpan sible for the purpose of forcing a record blank E which is introduced between each of them and the corresponding tubes 03 into the matrix of the latter. The bottoni of the iatented Feb. 27. ist 2.

tank C forms a stop for the tubular expanders I), preventing said expanders frommov ing longitudinally and so preventing stripping of the record blank E by longitudinal motion of said blank after it has engaged the surface of the matrix. This expander D may be composed of any suitable number of longitudinal sections l severally forming segments of a tube. In the present instance there are twelve of such sections and they are secured together -by springs d2 at their longitudinal edges, but in such manner that adjacent segments may move toward and from each other. As here shown the springs d'2 are bow shaped and engage with pins d* inserted in the sections d" and crossing recesses into which the middle vportion of the springs extend but so that the ends of the springs may extend into recesses d3 formed in the next adjacent sections d1. If found necessary, Where records are to be formed upon thin material, the segments (l1 of each expander D may have a surrounding sleeve F (see Fig. 6) of soft india rubber or si1nilar material to prevent the edges of the sections P from forming ridges or vgrooves upon the material in which the record is to be made. l

With each expander D a mandrel G is combined. It is longitudinally tapered and the inner surface of' the expander D with which it is to coact, is similarly tapered so that when a mandrel G is forced longitudinally into an expander lD the latter Will bel forced outwardly ina circumferential direc# tion and therefore will forcei'nto the matrix of the corresponding tube c3 the material of a recoup1l Lblankl.

It will be understood that each cylinder A and piston B constitute an engine. There may be as many of these engines as there are tubes c and coasting parts in a tank C so that when such a tank is pressed upon the bed of a press in such position that its inandrel G will be under the piston rods of the engines, the operation of the engines will cause the mandrels to .move longitudinally in the proper direction to expand the expander-s I) and force therecord blanks E outwardly into the matrices of the tubes c3.

Before the mandrels G are operated in the manner just described, the tank is supplied with 4a heating medium Awhich will preferably be hot'ivater introduced through the inlet c1 and maintained in the tank for a time long enough to make the record blanks snftlciently'plastic to receive clear and Well defined impressions from the matrices of the tubes c3. After the removal of a tank C from the press, a coolinr medium is to be introduced into it and this may be cold Water. If the cold Water is introduced through the inlet c1 itwill force f the. hot `rater and' afterward cool the finish records so that they will be disengaged circnmferentially from the matrices by contraction. The mandrels G Will then be removed. This may be done by a separate press H (see Fig. 7) having pistons movable upward into holes cs in the bottom of the tank and concentric with the tubes c3. A separate press-is, however, unnecessary because the tank may b turned upside down if its bed is provided with suitable holes, and the pistons B acting upon the smaller ends` of .the` mandrels G ma then be used to eject the mandrels. After the removal of the mandrels G the con! tracted expanders D may be taken out and afterward the finished recordsI E may be removed.

lhenever different matrices c? are to be used in a tank, the previously used ones may be removed by detaching the caps c". A t# terward by a reversal of the described oper- .ations nen7 matrices may be secured in the tank.

By having for each press several tanks of the kind described supported on slideways J, it will be possible to get one rea-dy for the press while a second is in the press and While a third is having finished records removed from it. They may be moved along slideways J.

I have shown one of the Ipiston rods'as provided Withan equalizing bar b1 which is pivoted bet-Ween its ends by a pin b2 to the "piston rod, and made of suliicientlength so that its ends may impinge upon two of the mandrels G. By this means the number of engines is reduced to one half what would otherwise be necessary and withal an independent operation of each mandrel ofa pair is secured.

In Fig. 6 I have shown two mandrels g1 and g2 tapering longitudinally toward their adjacent ends and with them is corribined an expander D1 which tapers from each end toward the center. These niandrels will each be operated in the same manner as the single mandrel comprised in the main ex aniple of my invention.

To insure escape'of air, the segments of the expanders are preferably longitudinally bowed, as indicated particularly in Figs. 1l and 12, so that when the taper mandrel` G, in its descent, acts upon said segments or staves, these segments first act upon the record blank near the middle thereof, and thence act thereon progressively toward the ends, thereby forcing out any air which may be between the expander and the record.

The caps' of the matrix tubes c3 may be provided with holes c for escape of air,

and there may be radially arranged airv matrix, said matrix container fotiming a stop nemesi motion thereof, end em'endrel arranged Within the expander, all being so combined that e record blank fore. phonograph or likev article may be arranged between the merrix and expander, and that the mandrel by acting on the' expander may produce pressure for forming e record upon the reov ord blank.

2. A tubular matrix, e eonteiner'herefor, e, tubular expander mede o e nrgloer o* longitudinel sections 'ieldingly connected iogeiher and arrangedy Within ille nieiriii, seid matrix container forming e eop vfor seid expander preventing lengitudinel -motion thereof, and e mandrel errengedwitln the expander, ell being so combined that e reeord blank for e phonographor like artiele may loe arranged between the matrix and iheexpender, and thai the mandrel may produce pressure :for forming e, record npou the record lilenlr.

3. e, tubular matrix, e tubular expander mede of a number of longitudinal sections made ci resilient materiel, formed so as to be normally protuberent externally intermediete of their ends, yieldingly connected to- 'getlier end erreiiged within lie merlx, and

e mandrel arranged. Wiiliin ille expander, all 'Seeing so combined inet e record blank for e phonograph or like article may be arranged nein/een the matrix end tire expander, end 'limi ille mendrelrney produce pressure for erming e record upon lie record blank.

Ll, A. tubular matrix, e, container ilierefor, e tubular expander made o e meneer of longitudinal sections eonneeied regelbar al heir adjacent edges oy springe and arranged wih'sliin elle matrix, seid matrix container forming e. Siep 'for said expander preventing longitudinal motion thereof, and e mandrel arranged Within ille expander, ell being so combined that a record. blank lor n. plie-nogrepll or like article may be arranged leetween the matrix and the expander, and that the mandrel may produce pressure for forming e record einen the record blank.

5. A Jaulouler matrix, a container therefor, e tubular expander made of e number of 4longitudinali Seel-'ions surrounded by an elastic sleeve and arranged Within ille matrix, seid melrix container forming e slop or seid expander preventing' longitudinal motion thereof, and e nmnclrel arranged Withinihe expander, all being so combined that e'rec-ord blank for e phonograph or like eriicle may be arranged betweenthe matrix and the expander, and inet the mendrel may produce. pressure for forming n. record upon 'the record blank.

6. A tubular matrix, ee container therefor, e tubular expander arranged Within ille matrix, said matrix container forming a. Stop for :seid expander prevening longitudinal moiien. thereof, and e. longiludinelly lepering' mandrel arranged within the expander, all being eo combined that a record blank ior e. phonograph or like article may be er ranged between the matrix and the expander, sind nlnet the mandrel may produce pressure for forming e record upon the record blank.

ln iesliilnony whereof l lieve signed this specification in the presence el? two subscri'o ingj Witnesses.

WALTER C, RNGE. Witnesses r Fir/erm RAFFMAN,

PAUL H. 

